Barring an unlikely bid in the Ivy championship, this weekend will mark the end of Penn softball senior pitcher Mason Spichiger's career.
Credit: Ananya ChandraNot a bad way to say goodbye to the home field.
On Sunday, Penn softball completed its three-game weekend series against Cornell. The Quakers won two games in a Saturday doubleheader before suffering an 8-4 loss on Sunday.
The three games against Cornell (12-20, 7-8 Ivy) marked the Quakers' last games at Penn Park. Sunday’s game served as the Penn's Senior Day, where the team said farewell to Jurie Joyner, Molly Oretsky, Katie Petroski, and Mason Spichiger.
Saturday’s doubleheader resulted in a pair of comfortable victories for the Red and Blue (14-20, 9-9). Penn started off with a 12-1 win led by an impressive performance from Spichiger on the mound to hold the Big Red to one run. Freshman pitcher Abigail Abramson followed up the senior’s performance with a 7-0 shutout in the second game of the doubleheader.
Spichiger was not the only senior to deliver an impressive performance in her final home series. The center fielder Petroski batted .500 during Saturday’s doubleheader, delivering a run batted in and scoring a run in the process. Third baseman Oretsky had 2 RBI in the second game and made crucial plays on defense to keep Cornell off the board.
Joyner also left her mark in her last weekend playing at Penn Park. In Saturday’s doubleheader, the catcher’s offensive performance was enough to give her 103 RBI in her career, tying her at fourth on the all-time list.
The Quakers remain fourth overall in the Ivy League, with Harvard currently atop the Ancient Eight. Penn will travel to Princeton to close out its season with a three-game series. The team will have a chance to move up the Ivy ladder with a sweep of the Tigers, who currently sport a losing record — good for sixth place in the conference.
For the seniors, while their time on the field is not yet finished, Senior Day marks the end of their time in front of a home crowd. Spichiger, who has seen playing time as both a starter and a reliever, has appeared twice in every Ivy series. Additionally, Petroski’s speed has contributed to Penn’s 52 stolen bases this season, the most for the Quakers since 2004.
Next season, these seniors will say goodbye to Penn softball on rival turf, but their last series at home was a fitting end for the four senior leaders of the program.
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